MOTIVE OFFERED IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE CASE

Hugh Estess, the nexus between Ronald Samuels and the assassins he allegedly hired to kill his ex-wife, testified Wednesday that Samuels wanted her "whacked" because he was angry over losing custody of his three children and wanted to collect on a million-dollar life insurance policy.

Estess was the third of three admitted crack-smoking, prostitute-loving hustlers to appear before the jury weighing charges Samuels masterminded the 1997 hit on Heather Grossman and her second husband, John Grossman.

Though John Grossman suffered only minor injuries, Heather Grossman was left paralyzed from the neck down. Samuels, 58, faces life in prison if convicted as charged.

Prosecutors admitted their key witnesses were the "dregs of society" but said they had no choice if they were to pursue their case against Samuels. All three were granted immunity for their testimony.

Estess and Samuels first met in the 1970s when the two worked in insurance, according to Estess, who owns Estess Insurance Inc. Outgoing and generous, Samuels was likeable, Estess said, though he was also "forceful, pugilistic and somewhat macho."

Angry about losing custody of his three children and being ordered by the court to pay his ex-wife $3,000 a month, Samuels consulted Estess in 1997 about having the Grossmans "whacked," Estess testified.

Estess testified that Samuels had called his ex-wife a "cheating whore" and thought John Grossman was abusive to his three children.

Samuels had recently sold a Pensacola car dealership and told Estess he netted $3 million or $4 million, much of which he had hidden in the Cayman Islands. Samuels gave Estess a wad of cash, between $5,000 and $7,000, to do the deed, which Estess quickly squandered on crack and women. At that time, Estess said, he was deep into a $200-a-day crack cocaine habit, which he chased with marijuana, Quaaludes and alcohol.

Hounded by Samuels for not completing the murder, Estess said, he put Samuels in contact with Stafford, a low-level drug dealer accustomed to using his own product.

On Tuesday, Stafford testified he drove Estess' 1996 green Ford Thunderbird while Runyon, a former Army marksman, fired the rifle shots at Heather and John Grossman at the intersection of Federal Highway and Yamato Road.

Though Estess immediately became a suspect by authorities who traced his car, he said he didn't fess up about his total involvement until being granted immunity. Estess testified that sometime after the shooting, Samuels planned to flee to Venezuela with a bogus passport and other identification, even inviting Estess to join him. By that point, Samuels had been identified as a prime suspect.

Defense attorneys Edward Reagan and Alex Brumfield zeroed in on the untruthfulness of the state's witnesses before they were offered immunity.